Psalm 84 Devotional

Key Verses: 2 and 10-11 "(2) My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God…(10) For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (11) For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly."

Spurgeon Insights: "To feel His love, to rejoice in the Person of the Anointed Savior, to survey the promises and feel the power of the Holy Ghost in applying precious truth to the soul, is a joy which worldlings cannot understand, but which true believers are lavished with. Even a glimpse at the love of God is better than ages spent in the pleasures of sense."

To experience an awareness of God's presence satisfies the human soul. When you are in a relationship with God through faith in Jesus the presence of God is refreshing to your spirit. The Psalmist knew that when they authored Psalm 84. They knew that strength came from the renewing presence of the LORD.

I have looked for the refreshment that only the presence of God can bring into my life in a lot of different things. Sex, drugs, causes, politics, and music have all been part of my pleasure pursuit. None of them satisfy like the Person of God. The Holy Spirit in me is the reality of God's life inside me. The only true spiritual source of revival for churches, families, and individual Christians is an experience of God personally. We must have a personal life with God. This is what we need in our meetings as follower's of Jesus. We need the manifest presence of God which He desires to grant. Praise Him. Pray with me…

Father, I pray that You would continue to draw me into times of renewal and revival in one on one settings with you, as well as with your people. I need to know Your presence, not just believe correct facts about You as I read them in the Bible. Fill my soul with Yourself. Pour Your life into me so it can be lived out through me by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Psalm 73 Devotional

Key Verses: 27-28 "(27) For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry. (28) But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works."

Spurgeon Insight: "(Unbelievers), who are far from God, perish…The greater our nearness to God, the less we are affected by the attractions and distractions of earth…He who is ready to believe the goodness of God will always see fresh goodness to believe in, and he who is ready to declare the works of God will never be silent for lack of wonders to declare."

The author of this Psalm is a guy named Asaph. Asaph wrote this Psalm to share a valuable lesson he had learned in his life with God. There was a time for Asaph when he was a bitter believer. He was upset as he saw how many totally messed up people seemed to get whatever they wanted out of life. He was a child of God and struggled a lot in life with different types of suffering and persecution. Did God not love Him?

What Asaph learned is that people who have whatever they want in life and die without a relationship with God really have nothing. They go into an eternity of suffering and judgment. The child of God who suffers their entire life on earth, and remains faithful, and goes to heaven with Jesus for eternity, never really missed out on anything consequential in the grand scheme of life. If we are followers of the Jesus Christ of the Bible today, right now, we have the nearness of God, His guidance, His presence. Though we die tonight, we live! We live in utter joy and fulfillment with our God and Savior Jesus Christ for time unending! My hope is that all who read this know without a doubt they have this kind of confidence because they have put their faith in Jesus, and know Him as a real person today. Ask Him to come into your life and cleanse you with forgiveness if you have never done that. True life and hope await you!

If you are a follower of Jesus, pray with me…

Father, Ie ask You to protect me from letting my heart get infatuated with fleeting pleasures. Help me to keep the joys of this life in perspective. Jesus, You died to bring me into relationship with You. You are the gift of salvation above all else. My mind knows that You ae all I need, but I need my heart to feel that reality today! Satisfy me with Yourself so I can be free from idolatry in the soul. You are all I need, my God. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Psalm 67 Devotional

Key Verses: 1-2 and 7 "(1) God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us, (2) that Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations…(7) God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him."

Spurgeon Insight: "We are blessed for the sake of others as well as ourselves. God deals in a way of mercy with His saints, and then they make that way known far and wide, and the LORD's name is made famous in the earth…God shall bless us is our assured confidence; He may smite us, or strip us, or even slay us, but He must bless us. He cannot turn away from doing good to His elect."

This Psalm invokes the blessing of God on His people for the purpose of showing His goodness to those who don't yet know Him. They want to be blessed so that the entire world will see how loving God is with His people.

This Psalm really challenges my motivation in desiring God's blessing. The Psalm is liberating in one aspect because it shows that it is biblical and fine to simply ask God to bless me. Yet, the Psalm is challenging because it also shows that a primary reason I should want God to bless me is that others may be blessed through seeing how He has worked in my life. I shouldn't just want to benefit from God for myself. I should pursue His gifts so other people can see what God is in my life and be astonished at how great He is to people who don't deserve His love. I should want to be blessed by Jesus so that others can be blessed in seeing the good things they too can have in a relationship with Him.

Ask yourself some penetrating questions with me. Why do I want God to bless me? Is it just about me, or something bigger? Do I want His love to be lavished on me for the purpose of showing the goodness of Christ to other people? Is it even in my spiritual faculties to think that way?

Father, I want the type of heart that wants to be blessed so that those around me will catch a glimpse of Your love in my life. I pray others would see Your goodness in my life and want to know You so that they can experience Your goodness too. I thank You for those who have seen Your blessings in me and my family and been drawn to You. Praise You, LORD. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Grace and Peace

Psalm 62 Devotional

Key Verse: 8 "(8) Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah"

Spurgeon Insight: "We should trust when we can see, as well as when we are utterly in the dark…You to whom His love is revealed, reveal yourselves to Him; His heart is set on you; lay bear your hearts to Him…Sheep may well lay down when such pasture is before them."

This is another Psalm of David. He wrote it during a time when people were spreading lies about him. He was tempted to defend himself, but knew he couldn't really change anything in his situation by his power. He chose to entrust himself to the LORD, and that encourages me when I face similar situations, to do the same.

I have people in my life right now that are spreading lies about me. They are saying that I have done things I haven't done. They are telling people close to me that I said things I didn't say, that are hurtful. Their lies are driving a wedge between me and people close to me whom I greatly love. It is hard to deal with! I want to take vengeance. But David has a good reminder for me here. I need to wait on the LORD and entrust my future to Him. I have done what is biblical in the situation, and I need to rest in God's care now. He is my refuge and protection, not my own devices.

So what injustice are you facing today? Who is it? What is it? Make Jesus your Refuge. He is able to handle everything. None of it has taken Him by surprise! He's going to work in all that is heavy for you right now. Trust Him! Go to Him with me in prayer. He hears!

Father, give me the strength to wait on You when I am falsely slandered. I want learn to entrust myself to Your care instead of trying to control things. I pray for those who have hurt me, that You will convict them, and restore our relationship. Do a miracle of grace in our lives.

In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Grace and Peace

Psalm 51 Devotional

Key Verses: 1-4 "(1) Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving-kindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot our my transgressions. (2) Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. (3) For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. (4) Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—that you may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge."

Spurgeon Insight: "Pardon of sin must ever be an act of pure mercy…The hypocrite is content if his garment is washed, but the true suppliant cries 'wash me'…When we deal seriously with our sin, God will deal gently with us."

David was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write this Psalm after the prophet Nathan confronted him about his affair with Bathsheba, one of his soldier's wives. He was totally convicted, repentant, and sorrowful over his sin. He confessed his sin to God asking Him to forgive and restore him as a man of God.

David's song makes an amazing point. He had sinned against Bathsheba and her husband whom David had murdered to cover up his sins, to say the least. There were a lot of people who fell victim to his spiritual crimes. In spite of that reality, David believed his sin was entirely against God alone (4)!

When I sin against people I ultimately sin against God. The reason sin against people is really sin, lies in the fact that I have violated God's desire as to how He wants me to treat them. So the reason it is a sin to murder another person is that God has told me not to do that to them. There is no sin I can commit against a person that doesn't go beyond the person and offend God. There really is no such thing as a sin that doesn't affect anyone else. Sin always affects, and is ultimately against, my God. It's truth like this that brings me back to an awe-filled gratefulness for the undeserved love and forgiveness of God I have everlastingly because Jesus has taken my sin and shame on His cross! He has put it away forever, and I have His forgiveness now, in real time! I hope that comforts you today! Pray with me…

Father, I pray that You would impress upon me the seriousness of all sin anew. Remind me, in the moment that I am tempted to think that my sin won't harm anybody but me, that all my sin affects You. Keep my ever tempted heart from wandering. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Grace and Peace

Psalm 42 Devotional

Key Verses: 1-2 and 11 "(1) As the deer pants for the waterbrooks, so my soul pants for You, Oh God. (2) My soul pants for God. For the living God. When will I come and appear before God? (11) Why are you cast down, oh my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I will yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God."

Spurgeon Insight: "Debarred from public worship, (he) was heartsick. He who loves the LORD loves also the assemblies wherein His name is adored...The saddest countenance will yet be made to shine, if there be a taking of God at His word and an expectation of His salvation."

This Psalm was written by the Sons of Korah. It describes the longing a worshiper of God feels when when they are hindered from experiencing the fulfillment found in worshiping God, and experiencing His presence with His people by geography, and circumstances. They are pictured as thirsting after God with intensity like that of a deer who has been wandering in the wilderness with no way to quench it's thirst for days on end.

It is interestring to me that the worshiper described here isn't merely upset because they haven't engaged in formal worship in a while. It is really the fact that they haven't been able to worship the LORD in the presence of His people that has them upset. It is a time of group worship before God that they want to experience again.

I heard once that a person's joy isn't complete until it is shared with another. That makes sense. When I buy new music for example, I might really love the music, but what really gets me fired up is when I get to show music I'm excited about to someone else who I think will like it as I do. As they start to get into it the music brings me even more happiness. I'm filled with joy so much more sharing it with someone else than I would've been had I kept my joy to myself.

Worshiping God in unity with other followers of Jesus should be the same kind of experience for me to a greater degree. It was for the Psalmist. I should be totally jazzed as I get to share my enjoyment of God with other followers of Jesus as we worship Him together. That unified enjoyment of God should cause me to value the gatherings of the people of Jesus more than anything else. By God's grace I will have that heart as the Sons of Korah did.

This Psalm closes with a promise of hope for the follower of Jesus who has been unable to experience the type of gathering described above because of geography or some other circumstances. He tells his own heart to, "Hope in God. I will yet praise Him; the hope of my countenance is God." Whether the Psalmist got to worship in an assembly of God's people on earth, or they had to wait until they got to heaven, they knew they would have a corporate worship experience again soon. The God of hope would grant that to them in the future one way or the other.

Do you value worshiping Jesus in the gathering of His people? If not I hope God will create a passion in us both for those experiences. They are forstastes of heaven as imperfect as they might be. Don't approach the assembly of God's people in a spirit of criticism, but in a spirit of celebration for the grace that it is.

Do you feel like you can't be in the assembly of the people of Jesus as often as you like? One way or another God will bring you into communion with Him in the midst of His people again. Remember, this isn't heaven yet! "Hope in God." Pray with me...

Father, I pray that you would help me value times of gathered worship with Your people even more. Help me understand how awesome it is to experience Your presence and sing Your praises with other followers of Jesus. I pray You would renew Your church with love for gathering together to focus on You, and meet You in a special way all across the world. Help us honor you with an intense desire for the gatherings of Your people. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Grace and Peace

Psalm 37 Devotional

Key Verses: 1-4 "(1) Do not fret because of evildoers, or be envious of the worksers of iniquity. (2)For they will soon be cut down like grass, and wither as the green herb. (3) Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. (4) Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Spurgeon Insight: "To fret is to worry, to become vexed...Faith curses fretting...make Jehovah the joy and recoicing of your spirit...There is no room for fretting if we remember that God is ours...Those who delight in God ask and desire nothing but what will please God; hence, they may have what they will."

David wrote this Psalm after learning the valuable lesson of not envying the affluent lifestyles of those who don't know God. They may have even seventy years of happiness with their toys, but in the end, they tragically lose. They step into an eternity of judgment, at death, or the return of Jesus Christ. God will judge them because He is just and perfect, because of who they are, and because of what they have done and desired. That is what I would face in the future were it not for Jesus taking my shame on the cross.

But the follower of Jesus faces a different reality. If we know God in Jesus Christ we have the only thing that can truly satisfy the human heart for eternity; we have God Himself! We have His forgiveness and cleansing. As a Christian I will suffer in this life for sure. But in my suffering I am sustained by the presence of God in my life! In eternity my suffering will end and even greater heights of fulfillment will be mine in the unhindered presence of God, and the people of God.

I will choose in this life to delight myself in God, and not the fleeting pleasures of this world that tug at my heart competing for it's affection. I will never be dissapointed chosing God instead!

As an added bonus of delighting in Jesus, I will also find greater freedom to do whatever I want. If what I want is God, God will be happy to give me what I want because He wants to give me Himself! If I enjoy God above all other things all my prayer requests will be tempered with a call for God to accomplish His will in my life. Because God wants His will to be done in my life all my prayers will be answered in the way that I want, because God and His glory are what I ultimately desire. The trick is getting this tempted heart to delight in and enjoy Jesus above all things. This will take the grace and enabling of the Holy Spirit who lives in me today as a follower of Jesus.

If you want the things we've talked about in this Psalm like I do, go after God in prayer with me right now! He will give our souls the lift we need.

Father, satisfy this heart with enjoyment of You! Help me see the superior gift I have in You, above all other things this life has to offer me. Help me to feed on Your faithfulness day by day so I can deeply be satisfied in my spirit, with the touch of Your Spirit. I thank you for the work you will do in me today! In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Grace and Peace

Psalm 22 Devotional (The Nearness of Jesus)

Psalm 22
Key Verse: 24 “(24) For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He (Jesus) cried to Him, He heard.”

Spurgeon Insight: “Never was man so afflicted as our Savior in body and soul from friends and foes, by heaven and hell, in life and death…but Jehovah always loved Him, and in love laid that woe upon Him with a view to His ultimate glory and to the accomplishment of the dearest wish of His heart. Under all His woes our Lord was honorable in the Father’s sight.”[1]

Psalm 22 is a Messianic Psalm. It contemporaneously spoke of real situations which the Psalmist faced. But deeper below the surface it speaks of Jesus the Messiah. It describes His agony on the cross, the Father’s enduring love for Him, and His joy of glorifying the Father in the assembly of God’s people after His resurrection from the dead. All this was prophesied hundreds of years before the first coming of Jesus when He came to die on a cross for the sin of the world, which includes me and you.

Verse 24 communicates a key theme in Psalm 22. Though Jesus absorbed the wrath of God on the cross, the Father was never angry at the Son personally. He was judging humanities sin on the cross, not any sin of Jesus. Jesus was, and is, sinless. The Father felt the Sons affliction. He didn’t abandon the Son. He heard Christ in the midst of His suffering.

Jesus stood in the gap for me and every other human being when He hung on the cross in that spot of horrific suffering, and death. Amazingly, I am allowed to see here a glimpse of the love Jesus has for me when I suffer in this picture of the Father’s love for Jesus as He suffered. As I suffer in this life the love of Jesus never ceases to be mine. He never despises my affliction, as unworthy as it is to be compared to the suffering He endured for me. He never utterly turns His face from me, even when my heart tries to convince me that He does. He always hears me when I cry to Him. He feels my suffering as His own, as the Father felt the suffering of Jesus as His own (Acts 9:4-5). Jesus is that close to you today no matter what you're facing if you are His.

Thank You for the reality of Your love in the hard places, Lord. I thank You for Your comfort. I thank You that, as great as You are, You sympathize with my sorrow in such a way as to feel as if it is Your own. I thank You that You took the wrath of God on my behalf so I can have a relationship of comfort with You, which is totally undeserved on my part! I thank You that when the voice of culture and other people mock the idea of Your reality and allegiance to Your people, it doesn’t change the facts. You’re real, and You’re with me.

[1] Spurgeon. Charles. The Crossway Classic Commentaries: Psalms. Page 86.

Psalm 19 Devotional

Psalm 19
Key Verses: 1, 7, and 14 “(1) The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork…(7) The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple…(14) Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.”

Spurgeon Insight: “Every moment God’s existence, power, wisdom, and goodness are being sounded abroad by the heavenly heralds which shine upon us from above…The practical effect of the Word of God is to turn people to themselves, to their God, and to holiness…Blessed Redeemer, give us now to meditate acceptably upon thy most sweet love and tenderness.”[1]

Creation is telling the world about the awesomeness of God. When we look at the universe and stand in awe it’s message to us is that we should be in even more awe of the One who created the universe. He must be even more beautiful and powerful than the universe or any force of nature if He is it’s Creator! The God of the Bible, Jesus, is the Creator. How awesome must He be!

God’s written Word is as amazing as the created universe. In a world of lies, changing opinions, and uncertainty, God’s Word is sure. It is unchanging, unalterable, perfect, and trustworthy. It has the ability to work within a person to change them from the inside out in cooperation with the work of the Spirit of God.

If the God of creation and the Bible truly are the same God, and they are, I have only one logical way to respond to Him. I am accountable to this awesome God! I want to make sure that I am in good standing with Him. My prayer must be the Psalmists: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight.”

LORD, I pray that you would guide me in my speech that will bring You honor. I pray that you would fill my heart with imaginations that glorify You. I thank you that you are my Redeemer, and that You have redeemed me from the power sin had over my mouth and heart before Jesus came into my life and forgave me. This is my hope based on Your word. I praise You that Your word is “sure.”
[1] Spurgeon. Charles. The Crossway Classic Commentaries: Psalms Pages 65, 68, and 71.

Psalm 1 Devotional

Psalm 1
Key Verses: 1-2 “(1) Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; (2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.”

Spurgeon Insight: “He delights to be in it (the Law) as his rule of life; he delights, moreover, to meditate in it, to read it by day and think upon it by night.”[1]

This Psalm is about two different types of counsel by which a person can live, and the practical results a person can experience from following one or the other. On the one hand the Psalm warns against living life by the counsel of the ungodly, or those who don’t live by God’s wisdom, and have a right relationship with Him. On the other hand the Psalm graphically describes the blessed life a person will enjoy if they turn to God’s law which is found in God’s Word, the Bible.
I have often read this Psalm and took encouragement from it to keep studying the Bible as my guide in life decisions. Reading it over today it stands out to me that being blessed through God’s Word involves a lot more than studying the Bible. The Psalmist doesn’t say that the person who merely reads or studies the Bible will be blessed. He says that it is the person who “delight(s)” and “meditates” on the Law of the LORD who will be blessed. Delighting in God’s Word speaks of taking pleasure in it. Meditating on God’s Word isn’t just reading it, but chewing on it mentally, and I believe, praying over what is found in God’s Word.
So the big application for me is not to stop short with mere Bible reading and expect to be transformed by the Word. I must delight in God’s Word and meditate on God’s Word. Only then will I be the blessed and transformed person glorifying God that this Psalm describes. The ability to do either of these things will take the grace and enabling of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, I pray right now that you would increase delight for your word inside my spirit. Increase my capacity to enjoy it through meditation. My spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak. By Your grace and Spirit accomplish these things in me so I can live the transformed and blessed life You desire to produce in, and through me.


[1] Spurgeon. Charles. The Crossway Classic Commentaries. Psalms. Page 2.